What to do with all that pumpkin post-Halloween

Pumpkin Soup

Extremely easy and delicious! (Even if you don’t like pumpkin!)

Ingredients:

1 medium onion

1 leek

1 pumpkin (preferably onion squash) 2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepperto taste

Chopped chillies

Peel the pumpkin and chop it in small cubes. Chop the onion and leeks. Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the onion and leeks. Cook for about 7 minutes on medium-low heat (or until they are brown) and then add the pumpkin. Add water so that the pumpkin is covered well, add the salt and pepper and cook until the pumpkin is soft. Place the soup in a blender and blend until smooth. Place the soup back in the pan and add water until you have the consistency you prefer. Serve hot and add some fresh chopped chillies to break the sweetness of the pumpkin.

Pumpkin Chips

Ingredients:

Two cupsof pumpkin, chopped into batons

1 tbsp honey (or to taste)

2 tsp paprika (or to taste)

Preheat oven to 200°C. Pour honey over chopped pumpkin and sprinkle paprika evenly. Arrange pumpkin in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for approximately half an hour, flipping them halfway through. Feel free to use any mix of spices and herbs instead of paprika to make things interesting. For a spicy flavour try chilli, or rosemary for a more mild flavour.

Pumpkin Cake

NB: Nope, this is not a dessert like pumpkin pie – think savoury turnip cake from dim sum restaurants, just made with pumpkin instead! This recipe needs a bit more elbow grease and requires use of a steamer, but the results are well worth the effort.

Ingredients:

700g pumpkin, cubed

200g rice flour

500ml water

2 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp driedshrimp

1 tsp five spice powder

Soak the dried shrimp in some water for 15 minutes. Steam the pumpkin until soft, then mash it up finely and add the rice flour, cornstarch, five spice powder, shrimp and water. Pour the mixture into a dish and steam for 10 minutes.

Slice and serve as-is, or lightly pan-fry both sides to crisp it up a little bit before serving.